Botanical classification/cultivar designation: xc3x97Heucherella alba cultivar Heart of Darkness.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Heucherella plant, botanically known as xc3x97Heucherella alba and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Heart of Darknessxe2x80x99. Heucherella is a genus that contains intergeneric hybrids between the genera Heuchera and Tiarella.
The new Heucherella is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Scottdale, Pa. The objective of the breeding program is to create new Heucherella cultivars having good plant vigor, dense and uniform plant habit, and showy and attractive flower and leaf coloration.
The new Heucherella was discovered by the Inventor in a controlled environment in Scottdale, Pa., from seedling progeny from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in May, 1999, of the Heuchera cultivar Silver Light, disclosed in U.S. Plant Patent application filed concurrently with this application, as the female, or seed, parent with an unknown selection of Tiarella cordifolia, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Heucherella was selected by the Inventor in May, 2000. The selection of this plant was based on its desirable flower and foliage coloration.
Asexual reproduction of the new Heucherella by cuttings taken in a controlled environment in Scottdale, Pa., since August, 2000, has shown that the unique features of this new Heucherella are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Heart of Darkness has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Heart of Darknessxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Heart of Darknessxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar of Heucherella:
1. Full, densely foliated and uniformly mounded plant habit.
2. Upper surfaces of leaves green, grayed green and grayed purple in color; lower leaf surfaces green underlain with dark purple in color.
3. Numerous large and showy white-colored flowers arranged on erect to outwardly spreading panicles.
4. Long flowering period extending from late spring to mid-summer.
5. Excellent garden performance.
Plants of the new Heucherella can be compared to plants of the female parent, the cultivar Silver Light. In side-by-side comparisons conducted by the Inventor in Scottdale, Pa., plants of the new Heucherella differed from plants of the cultivar Silver Light in the following characteristics:
1. Leaves of plants of the new Heucherella had green, grayed green and grayed purple-colored upper leaf surfaces whereas leaves of plants of the cultivar Silver Light had silvery purple-colored upper surfaces.
2. Plants of the new Heucherella had broader inflorescences than plants of the cultivar Silver Light.
3. Flowers of plants of the new Heucherella were white in color whereas flowers of plants of the cultivar Silver Light were pink in color.
Plants of the new Heucherella can be compared to plants of the cultivar Quicksilver, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,081. In side-by-side comparisons conducted by the Inventor in Scottdale, Pa., plants of the new Heucherella differed from plants of the cultivar Quicksilver in the following characteristics:
1. Leaves of plants of the new Heucherella had green, grayed green and grayed purple-colored upper surfaces whereas leaves of plants of the cultivar Quicksilver had grayed purple to grayed green-colored upper surfaces.
2. Inflorescences of plants of the new Heucherella were shorter and more branched than inflorescences of plants of the cultivar Quicksilver.
3. Flowers of plants of the new Heucherella were larger than flowers of plants of the cultivar Quicksilver.
4. Flowers of plants of the new Heucherella were white in color whereas flowers of plants of the cultivar Quicksilver were light pink in color.
Plants of the new Heucherella can also be compared to plants of the cultivar Kimono, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,154. In side-by-side comparisons conducted by the Inventor in Scottdale, Pa., plants of the new Heucherella differed from plants of the cultivar Kimono in the following characteristics:
1. Leaves of plants of the new Heucherella were smaller and not as deeply lobed as leaves of plants of the cultivar Kimono.
2. Leaves of plants of the new Heucherella had green, grayed green and grayed purple-colored upper surfaces whereas leaves of plants of the cultivar Kimono had grayed green-colored upper surfaces.
3. Flowers of plants of the new Heucherella were white in color whereas flowers of plants of the cultivar Kimono were greenish white in color.